Mixed martial arts fans have been fed a wealth of action over the last few weeks. This Friday Bellator MMA jumps back into the fray with another helping of contests in the circular cage for fight fans to enjoy. While the card may not feature a lot of top name talent that mainstream fans (or even some hardcore fans ) will recognize, the main event has the potential to be the best fight of the weekend.
In the Bellator 99 main event, Diego Nunes will make his first appearance outside of a Zuffa cage. Welcoming him will be perennial Bellator featherweight contender Patricio Freire. This fight takes two athletes who are well-versed in multiple areas of fighting, and puts them together to create a captivating bout that should not be missed by MMA fans.
Grappling and striking play a vital role in both of these fighters’ skill sets. Nunes and Freire have a combined 12 wins by knockout and 13 by submission. However, Nunes has not finished an opponent since 2008, before he stepped into the WEC (and eventually the UFC) cage to face the highest level of competition. Freire, on the other hand, has remained a top contender in Bellator’s featherweight division, but has failed to grab the title on two separate occasions.
Expect for much of this bout to be contested on the feet. Both Nunes and Freire have the kind of takedown defense abilities to counter each others’ wrestling. “Pitbull” has proven to be the more aggressive of the two, but that leaves him open to the counter-striking skills that Nunes has displayed in the past. For example, he rocked Kenny Florian during their 2011 bout, so we could see him lay back in this fight and wait to pounce on his opponent.
Even though this is the main event of the card, the matchup between Nunes and Freire is an opening round contest for the next featherweight tournament. This season’s field features Justin Wilcox, Akop Stepanyan, Desmond Green, Fabricio Guerreiro, Andrew Fisher and Joe Taimanglo, all of which will appear on Friday’s card. Looking at the rest of the bracket, matching Freire and Nunes is an odd decision, because this fight certainly could have been the finals of this tournament, and either fighter winning could have created a must see fight for current champion Pat Curran.
Even though the World Series of Fighting will host its fifth event, and Floyd Mayweather will defend his title, the Bellator MMA showcase bout of Diego Nunes vs. Patricio Freire is the closest matchup in a competitive sense. Expect to see some back and forth action, as these fighters look to advance in the featherweight tournament, and move one step closer to Bellator’s featherweight crown.
• Patricio Freire vs. Diego Nunes – Season 9 FW Tournament Opening Round
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Bellator 99 will take place on September 13, 2013 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California.
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